Weird Temperatures A Nationwide Thing Today, Also Update On Our Snowstorm

We're still on track in Vermont for a decent sized snowfall
on Friday. Current forecasts from the National Weather
Service in South Burlington have all of the state receiving
at least six inches of snow, with some southern
Vermont spots getting up to a foot of it. 

 Today turned out to be one of those days in which temperatures were all over the place across the nation. 

Different parts of the United States often have record high and record low temperatures on the same date. 

The contrast between the Northwest and the Northeast today were pretty impressive, though. The changes going on in some places are pretty wild, too. 

We saw that here in Vermont, where, as forecast,   the weather here   is completely different late this afternoon as it was this morning.   

For example, we can start with the tale of two Portlands. 

Normally mild Portland, Oregon was 26 degrees this morning, which was just two degrees shy of the record low for the date. Meanwhile, in Portland, Maine, usually home to much more rugged weather, the record high today was 66 degrees, smashing the old record of 61 degrees and coming within two degrees of the all time record high for the month of February. 

Hartford, Connecticut, had a record high of 70 degrees today but was simultaneously under a winter storm watch for Friday.  Boston also reached 70 degrees. 

The cold in the United States encompasses a far larger area than today's fleeting heat in the Northeast. This is probably the most impressive cold wave this entire winter.  

The cold extends from California to Colorado to the Upper Midwest.  Alerts have been upgraded to a hard freeze warning in California's Central Valley, where record lows are expected tonight and tomorrow night. 

In usually temperate places like Santa Rosa, California, officials have set up warming shelters because of the frigid weather. Frost and freeze warnings extend into the San Francisco Bay area, which is also expecting record low temperatures. 

Up in Washington State, record lows today included 23 degrees in Seattle and 14 in Olympia. Denver, Colorado reached a record low of 7 below.

The worst weather with this cold outbreak today was in northern Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.  Thundersnow storms roamed around Oklahoma as temperatures this afternoon held in the teens. Normal highs there this time of year are in the mid-50s. 

In Arkansas, heavy sleet and freezing rain was also accompanied by thunder. The freezing rain will continue into Thursday, which promises lots of damage to trees and power lines. 

This is the the same storm that is going to give us our snowstorm here in Vermont Friday.

VERMONT SET UP

Temperatures, as expected, crashed in the Green Mountain State today.  Here in St. Albans, it was in the mid-50s at 8 a.m. but back below freezing by 12:45 p.m. It took longer to get cold in the rest of Vermont.  Burlington finally dipped below freezing after 4 p.m. Montpelier dropped from the low 50s at 1 p.m. to the 30s at 2 p.m.. 

Flurries have been ongoing here and in much of northern Vermont all afternoon, and we now have a dusting of replacement snow.  We're still on track to receive a bunch more replacement snow. 

It'll stay cold tonight and tomorrow, so all the mud out there will freeze back up. 

While the entire state remains under a winter storm watch, there's only been subtle trends so far in the overall forecast for the storm. The National Weather Service in South Burlington has detected a slight northward trend in the computer guidance for this storm, so that would increase the already good chances that areas of Vermont north of Route 2 will still get a decent amount of snow. That would probably be in the 6 to 9 inch range, which is fine.

Southern Vermont still looks like the winner, especially along the south and east facing slopes, which could clock in with a foot. 

The National Weather Service says we might have to be a bit patient with this storm as it starts. Snowfall during a good portion of Friday morning might be pretty light and wimpy. Then, during the day, especially from late morning to late afternoon,the snow would really come down, if current forecasts hold.

That would mean an inch an hour, so six inches or more could pile up pretty quickly. Speaking of quick the storm is a fast mover, so the snow will quickly taper off Friday night.